The full story...

Smelly, giant flower in rare bloom

DAVID MARK: Some Melbourne botanists had a special treat on Christmas Day - they got to see one of the rare sights of the plant world.

A giant Indonesian flower, which is about six feet tall, has blossomed for the first time at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens.

The corpse flower is expected to draw visitors to the tropical glasshouse at the gardens, despite it's one very unattractive characteristic.

It's named the corpse flower for good reason - as Simon Lauder found out this morning when he paid a visit to the Botanic Gardens.

He's speaking here with the nursery co-ordinator, David Robbins.

DAVID ROBBINS: We're extremely lucky. We've got an amorphophallus titanum that has opened up for us on Christmas Day.

SIMON LAUDER: How rare is it?

DAVID ROBBINS: Oh look, it is very rare in cultivation and also in its native country of Sumatra.

SIMON LAUDER: I understand it started flowering yesterday. Have you seen it yet?

DAVID ROBBINS: No, I haven't seen it as yet, Simon. I've just met you at the gate and we are about to go through the front of the glass house and have a look.

SIMON LAUDER: Shall we go in?

DAVID ROBBINS: Yeah, let's do that. Got to unlock it because it opens at 10 o'clock this morning.

SIMON LAUDER: Any word of warning before we open that door?

DAVID ROBBINS: Yeah, look when we open this door it is probably going to stink somewhere between rotten cheese, rotting flesh, rotten fish and we've had smaller, similar species flower in other glass houses and you open the doors and you really are hit with a powerful stench. So brace yourself.

SIMON LAUDER: I can't wait, let's go in.

(Sound of door opening)

Mm.

DAVID ROBBINS: Cheese, rotting something.

SIMON LAUDER: Yes, that is not exactly the kind of smell I was hoping to be greeted with at this time of morning.

DAVID ROBBINS: No, I'd rather not have that either but look at that.

SIMON LAUDER: Oh, my goodness.

DAVID ROBBINS: That is truly a paragon of botanical pulpitude (phonetic).

SIMON LAUDER: How tall is that?

DAVID ROBBINS: On Monday it was 174 centimetres, so as yet I haven't been able to measure it so I imagine it's possibly five centimetres taller than that.

SIMON LAUDER: So a nearly six foot flower?

DAVID ROBBINS: Yes.

SIMON LAUDER: Shall we have a closer look?

DAVID ROBBINS: Yah, if you're keen, yep. I've been thinking of a way to describe it to people and the best way to describe it I think is am upturned green and white skirt with a maroon lining on the inside with the largest piece of French bread or French stick you've ever seen poking out the top of it.

SIMON LAUDER: It looks spectacular. Does it look as good as you imagined?

DAVID ROBBINS: No, I've only seen photos or video clips before and it's much better in the flesh as it were.

SIMON LAUDER: And why would a flower want to do such a good impersonation of road kill?

DAVID ROBBINS: It's just a way that this plant and quite a number of other plants have evolved to attract flies to do the job of pollination rather than bees.

SIMON LAUDER: It's not really working well for it though is it?

DAVID ROBBINS: Look, not at the moment but during the day I'll open up the vents to let some fresh air in and I think you'll find there'll be a few flies buzzing around once we do that.

SIMON LAUDER: Is the stink of this plant a part of the reason for its precarious position, it is quite endangered?

DAVID ROBBINS: No, it's man's impact that has got more to do with the rarity of the plant. It is logging and that kind of thing, yeah.

SIMON LAUDER: So how many of these are there in botanic gardens around the world and is there any chance of restoring it in the wild?

DAVID ROBBINS: Look, there would definitely be a chance of planting plants back into the wild. There is something like 180 plants that have flowered across the globe.

SIMON LAUDER: People are going to come and visit this, are they?

DAVID ROBBINS: Oh, we hope so. Hope we'll get more people today. There were apparently a lot of people yesterday.

SIMON LAUDER: BYO facemask.

DAVID ROBBINS: I'd suggest something along that lines, yes.

DAVID MARK: That is the nursery co-ordinator at Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens, David Robbins with Simon Lauder.

Images

Click an image to enlarge

From the Archives

Around 500 Indigenous people fought in the First World War, and as many as 5,000 in the second. But many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diggers who made it home received little or no recognition for their contribution. On Anzac Day, 2007, the first parade to commemorate their efforts and bravery was held in Sydney. Listen to our report from that day by Lindy Kerin.